Water heating system



March 3, 1942. c. M. Rr-:Es Y 2527.5160 Y WATER HEATING SYSTEM I I Filled Dec. 14, 1957' ffm* 'fa' Patented Mar. 3, 1942 UNITEJJ` STATES 'PATENT oFFIcE WATER HEATING SYSTEM y YClyde Malin Rees, White Plains, N. Y., assigner to Plains,

George A. Rees, White- Application December 14, 1937, Serial No. 179,626

8 Claims.

This invention relates to water heating systems, and particularly to systems for heating water for domestic use. l

'I'he invention has for its-object, generally, to

lprovide a system of the character indicated which is highly eflicient and relatively economical in the use of the heating agent employed,

and has a relatively simple mechanical constructien whereby installation and maintenance costs are relatively low.

More specifically, an object of the invention is to provide a system for heating water for` domestic use which includes improved water storage tanks or reservoirsv that are adapted to conserve heat and maintain the temperatures without substantial drop over a relatively long period.

Another object is to provide a novel arrangement of water storage reservoirs in series in association with gas water heaters arranged so that quantities of water at graded temperatures are maintained in heat conserving relation therein.

Another object is to provide'an arrangement of high and low temperature storage reservoirs Afor domestic water heatersI in nested relation whereby the heat lost through radiation by the water at high temperature is absorbed' by the water at lo'w temperature.

' [Another object is to provide a domestic water heating system, using gas as the heating agent, whereby the low temperature heat of the ilue gases is utilized to heat water, as well as the y heat of the high temperature flue gases. K

Still another object is to provide passages for the supplementary heating of the storage water reservoirs that are at different temperatures by. an arrangement employing the ilue gases from a gas water heater; the arrangement being such there is a relatively constant temperature difference between each vreservoir and the flue gases heating the same whereby there is a highV degree of conservation of the heat of the flue gases. Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement Ao1' parts,` which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter setforth 1 and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing,'in which: Y

Fig. l isfa view, partly in elevation and partly in section, parts being broken away, showing a water heating system of the present invention employing a gas water heater;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-,2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view showing details ofl the thermostatic device employed in Fig. 1;

and Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional Vview oi a portion of the gas flue shown in Fig. 1 disclosingdetails of its construction.

Referringnow to the drawing, and particularly to Fig. 1, Il denotes a water supply main which leads from any suitable source, f or example, a

city distributing system, and is connected to a lower or inlet point of a tank in the water storage reservoir system employed in` accordance with the invention. This reservoir system, as seen in Fig. 2, comprises a first or outer tank II (tank II beingv connected td water supply Il)v and a second or inner tankv I2 that is separate from and of generally less volume than the iirst tank. 'In the system shown tank I2 is nested orl that is disposed in operative association with the storage water tanks.

This heater is shown as comprising a casing I lenclosing coil I5 and provided with a gas burner I1 disposed below the coil Iii.v The casing I6 is preferably provided at its lower end with a damper or adjustable closure Il for regulating the admission of air to the burner for combustion purposes. At the upper end, a ilue I! is provided to lead away the products of combustion.

In accordance with the practice of th'e present invention, the ilue I9 is not led directly to a vent or chimney, but is connected to discharge into a heating passage 2l extending longitudinally through the inner tank I2. At the far end of the lpassage 20 a double elbow or U-shaped ilue portion 2| leads the flue gases to a return passage 22 that is provided longitudinally through the upper portion of the ,outer tank II; the exit from the passage 22 communicating with a ilue portion 23 that leads to the vent or chimney. The ilue portion 23- is also preferably'provided with av damper as shown at 24 whichis adapted to be operated in conjunction with the damper I8 as hereinafter more fully explained.v

A water conduit 25 leads from the exit end of the heating coil I5 andis tapped into an intermediate point in an end of' inner tank I2.

The upper portion ofthe tank I2 is also tapped and has leading therefrom a water exit conduit 26 adapted for 'supplying hot water to the house distributing system. The tank I2 is also tapped at some lower point and has leading therefrom awater conduit 21 that includes a check valve 28 and communicates with a lower portion of the heating coil I5. This connection permits the water that has cooled in the inner tank I2 to be withdrawn into the heating coil yfor reheating and returned before being withsulating envelope may be extended to include the iues i9 and 2l, and also the casing I6 of the gas water heater when desired.

In order that the water in the storage system may be readily maintained at a desired temperature, particularly that in the inner tank I2, a suitable automatic control is provided, for example, a thermostatic control of the gas to the burner II. A suitable device of this character is shown in Fig, 3 and is indicated in Fig. 1 as extending linto the inner tank I2 at a suitable point in the end adjacent the gas water heater srid operates upon a valve in gas supply conduit The type or thermostat shown in Fig. 3 is of the solid expanding clement variety and comprises an expansible tube 3i having within a relatively inexpensible rod 32. The inner end of the tube 3l is closed by a plug or abutment 33 for rod 32 while the outer end of the tube is secured to a casing 3i that houses a lever system 35 that controls the gas. To accomplish this, therfree end 36 of the lever system is connected to the stem 3l or a disc valve 38 disposed to control conduit 29. By this arrangement, it is seen that when. the water in the tank l2, that is in contact with the tube 3l, has cooled ciently to contract the tube, the lever system is moved so as to open the gas valve whereby the gas heater is set into operation. This continues until the water has attained the desired temperature A when the iiue gases traversing the same are 1 chilled below the dew point, this condensate l0 when later heated being caused to evaporate.

when the reverse operations taheplace and close valve 52S.

In order that there may he an adequate supply of air'ior the burner lll when the ges is turned on, and at thev same time avoid cooling drafts through the ues when the burner is not in operation, the dampers IB' and 2d are preferably arranged to be operated simultaneously with the gas valve 38. To this end they are .connected by means of a cable 4t that is actuated by means oi a bell crank lever M disposed adjacent to thev thermostat andv provided with an arm connected directly for actuation by an extension ft2 oi the gas valve vstern el. Thus itis seen that when the i' tion of moisture from the ue gases when cooled below the dew 'point in the dues il), 2i and 23 at undesired points which otherwise would induce rusting and/or undesired cooling, the double elbow 2 I is preferably moisture traps or evaporating pans, as shown in Fig4.'""Here the lower elbow is shown as providrefdewith. a depending pan 2id while the upper elbow is provided with an annular or constricting pan 2I i. By such means, it is seen thatl the elbows will 'collect the moisture at desired points lnoperation it is seen that water from the war supply i@ ilrst enters and iills the tank il of the storage water system and then successively traverses the heating coil l5 and enters the inner tanlr i2 where it is retained until withdrawn by a demand on the house hot water distributing system. The thermostatic means here provided is seen to control the supply of ,heating agent and to admit the same whenever the water in the tank i2 dropsl below a predetermined temperature and to turn on the heating agent as soon as the predetermined temperature desired is again attained in tank i2. The circulation connection 2l induces the circulation of water through the heating coil i5 from the lower partA of tenis iii 'to an intermediate point thereof when no hot Water is being 'drawn from the system but when gas valve 38 has been opened by the thermostat. Tarih l2 is thus at all times lled with a. desired amount o water heated to the temperature desired to be maintained.

The nested relation oi the tanks il and i2 insures that the heat lost by radiation from the tank l2 which is at the higher temperature is absorbed by and imparted to the water in the tank ll., This trahsfer is partly through conduction but mainly through radiation. The water in the tanir il is thus tempered and raised to a temperature somewhat above that of the incoming water oi the supply system but below that oi the tank i2, Hence the water entering the water heater requires less heating;y to bring it to the temperature desired in tanlr il. The graded temperatures or the water in the' tanks il and l2 is thus in the interts of' mutual heat conservation and induces a relatively complete ahsorption of the heat lost from the inner tank.

by the iiue gases even at relatively low tempera-,A

tures is carried out with relatively hieh emeency since the temperature difference is relativel'yconstent, the higher temperature water being heated by the due gases at the higher temperature while the lower temperature water is heated by the hue Lrases that have already given up some heat." The absorption ci heat by the water at all points is thus oi a relatively high order and reverse heating e este are avoided.

The heat 'lrom the iiue gases traversing elbows.

2l is seen here to cause the moisture that has collected in the moisture traps and pans to evaporate, so that the eihci'ency o the ilues is, i@ and 32 is maintained. The passage of hue gases eontinues until the supply of sas to the burners is cut ofi `when the dempers i8 and provided with one or more 2l are closed, as previously pointed out. lConsequently there is no afterdraft of cooling air through the tanks Il and i2 which lwould otherwise tend to dissipate the heat of the water in `the storage tanks when the gas burner is not in operation.

, While the heated water has here been illustrated as supplied to a house distributing system for domestic use, it is obvious that the parts may be so proportioned as to supply heated water for a house heating system, the usual Vrisers being,

matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing'` shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a system for heating water for domestic use, the combination with a water supply, of a gas water heater, a storage Water system comprising `a pair of reservoirs connected in series and having said water heater in series therebetween; said reservoirs having flue passages therein for the supplementary heating of the water,

and flue connections leading from said-water heater to said iiue passages, and iiue conduits connecting said. water heater and said flue passages in series in the inverse order of the water connections.

2. In a system for heating water for domestic use, the combination with a water supply, of a gas water heater, a storage water system comtween, said reservoirs having due passages therein for the supplementary heating of the Water,

iiue connections leading from said water heaterV to said iiue passages and ue conduits connecting said water heater and said flue passages in series in the inverse order of the water connections, and automatic means associated with said reservoirs for controlling the gas supply to said water heater.

3. lIn a system for heating water for domestic use, the combination with a water supply, of a water heater having a burner and a gas supply connection, a lwater storage system comprising a pair of reservoirs connected in series and having said water heater interposed therebetween, the iirst reservoir in theseries leading from said water supply having an open space in which said second reservoir is housed, said reservoirs each being provided with iiue gas passages, fiue gas conduits for connecting said water heater and iiue gas passages in series in the inverse order of the water connections, and means associated with said conduits for trapping andlater evaporating the moisture precipitated when said flue gases cool below the dew point.

4. In a system for heating water for domestic use. the combination with a water supply, of a water heater having a burner and a gas supply connection, a water storage system comprising a pair of reservoirs connected in series -and having said water heater interposed therebetween, the mst reservoir in the series leading from said water supply having an open space in which said v second reservoir is housed, said reservoirs each being provided with ue gas passage, ue gas conduits for connecting said water heater and flue gas passages in series in the inverse order oi the water connections, and thermostaticmeans associated with the `second reservoir for controlling the supply of gas to said burner.

5. In a system for heating water 'for domestic use, the combination with a water heater having'a burner and a gas supply connection, a water storage system comprising a pair of reservoirs connected in series and having said water heater interposed therebetween, the

' first reservoir in the -series leading from said water supply having an open space in which said second reservoir is housed, said reservoirs each of the water connections, damper means for con-U trolling the passage o! gaseous media through said nue gas conduits, 'and thermostatic means for controlling bothsaid dampermeans and said gas supply.

6. In a system for heating water for domestic use, the combination with a water supply, of a water heater having a burner and a gas supply connection, a water storage system comprising a pair of reservoirs connected in series and having said water heater interposed therebetween, the first reservoir in the series leading from said water supply having an open space in which said second reservoir is housed, said reservoirs each being provided with flue gas passages,` ilue gas conduits for connecting said water heater and flue gas passages in series in the inverse 'order of the water connections, closure means controlling the admission of air to said burner,

damper means controlling the exit of productsof combustion from said conduits, valve means controlling the supply of gas to said burner, and thermostatic means simultaneously actuating said closure means, said damper means and said valve means.

7. In a system for heating Water for domestic use, the combination with awater supply, of a service connection, a pairof spaced water storage reservoirs in nested relation having the outer reservoir connected to said water supply and the -inner reservoir connected to said service connection, another connection connecting said inner and outer reservoirs in series, a gas water heater in said other connections in series with said reservoirs, and nue means in heat exchanging relation with said reservoirs for conserving the heat of the waste gases from said water heater.l

8. In a system for heating water forV domestic use, the combination with a water supply, ofa

service connection, a pair oi. spaced water storage reservoirs in nested relation having the outer reservoir connected to said water supply and the thermostatic means controlling said water heater and provided with connections for simultaneously controlling the passage of waste gases from said water heater.

. CLYDE MALIN REES.

water supply, of a 

